Abellio Greater Anglia Class 755s (Regional Trains)

[Class 170101]

Wonder how long it takes to fuel a unit? With them having to be fuelled daily the Crown Point fuel pad will be very busy if things stay as they are today on that front.

 

[dk1]

I expected/hoped to see some of these on my trip to Norwich today. I expected they'd be stables in the new sidings at Crown Point, but they were empty. Must be tucked up out of sight somewhere.

The new sidings cannot be used. They have no method of working agreement.

 

[jamesontheroad]

I expected/hoped to see some of these on my trip to Norwich today. I expected they'd be stables in the new sidings at Crown Point, but they were empty. Must be tucked up out of sight somewhere.

They are indeed stabled behind the shed, on the roads on the south-eastern side of the depot. I drove a vehicle into the depot a few months ago and had a peak around. One of Crown Point’s biggest constraints is that the main road access is round the south side of the ATB Laurence Scott factory, along the old Hardy Road, and under the railway where it narrows to a single track over the river. There’s a height restriction here, so HGVs and trucks delivering parts to the stores often have to unload here onto fork lifts.

The other way in is via a level crossing at the bottom of Cremorne Lane on the Line towards Yarmouth, which they don’t tend to use unless absolutely necessary.

 

[trebor79]

The new sidings cannot be used. They have no method of working agreement.

Is that a union thing? Do they really have a veto on some new sidings in an existing depot being brought into use?

 

[dk1]

Is that a union thing? Do they really have a veto on some new sidings in an existing depot being brought into use?

Absolutely. There has to be a comprehensive safe system of working put in place & agreed.

 

[trebor79]

Jeez. That must be frustrating, how does anything ever get done?
I've been involved in big industrial projects and of course we had to have Risk Assessments and SSWs, but the union didn't have an automatic opportunity to pick holes in every little thing. Not saying that's what happens, but it could if they were feeling militant.
Does the phrase "reasonable request" carry any weight in railway land?
Anyway, I'm looking forward to trying the new trains in 2019.

 

[306024]

How to grab the wrong end of the stick......

The working of any depot will be subject to the yard safety plan which of course has to be adhered to by management and staff alike. It has nothing to do with a veto of anything, unless of course something is proposed which is unsafe. If management do propose an unsafe working (unlikely), then not agreeing to it would seem rather sensible.

 

[delticdave]

The new sidings cannot be used. They have no method of working agreement.

Why has there no such agreement, seems a little odd if the tracks have been laid already?

 

[306024]

Just a guess, but maybe the PWay team haven’t signed them as usable yet. Nothing is complete until you have a piece of paper to say it is.

 

[Dave1987]

Why do people automatically jump to conclusions and automatically believe it’s unions being militant etc. There needs to be a yard safety plan agreed with safe walking routes agreed etc etc. This is all to do with safe methods of working for liability insurance etc etc. You can’t just slap down a bit of track and just say “use that”. If anyone is killed or injured then it needs to be established if persons involved were following the agreed safe method of working.

 

[Dave1987]

Why has there no such agreement, seems a little odd if the tracks have been laid already?

Why? How do you know if the walking routes have been assessed? How do you know if the yard safety plan required for insurance purposes has been drawn up?

 

[samuelmorris]

Why do people automatically jump to conclusions and automatically believe it’s unions being militant etc. There needs to be a yard safety plan agreed with safe walking routes agreed etc etc. This is all to do with safe methods of working for liability insurance etc etc. You can’t just slap down a bit of track and just say “use that”. If anyone is killed or injured then it needs to be established if persons involved were following the agreed safe method of working.

Nothing really to do with unions in this case I'd have thought, it's just standard health & safety. Unfortunately, whether or not you agree with their stance on a given issue, there is so much going on with unions lately that negatively affects passengers, it leads people to the assumption that anything procedural that goes wrong (i.e. not technical issues with infrastructure or rolling stock) is the fault of unions. The neverending industrial action over DOO in the affected areas, coupled with still fairly regular action on the tube gives the unions pretty bad press and as such, when matters like this arise, it's all too common for people to simply assume it's a union matter, because quite often it is. For context only (as I wouldn't want to start yet another unions/DOO debate) I'm not that often on the side of the union with these matters as I think their responses can be rather disproportionate, but I'll stick up for them here. You don't need a union to tell you that operating a new stretch of track, even in a depot, without appropriate H&S paperwork is a bad idea.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Nothing really to do with unions in this case I'd have thought, it's just standard health & safety

Standard health and safety doesn't require staff to agree anything. Standard health and safety requires risk assessment, operating procedure etc to be defined then the staff being told what they are.

 

[delticdave]

Why? How do you know if the walking routes have been assessed? How do you know if the yard safety plan required for insurance purposes has been drawn up?

Surely all the above assessments / paperwork would have been finalized before any track would be laid?
If not, why waste money / time...........?

 

[LAX54]

They are indeed stabled behind the shed, on the roads on the south-eastern side of the depot. I drove a vehicle into the depot a few months ago and had a peak around. One of Crown Point’s biggest constraints is that the main road access is round the south side of the ATB Laurence Scott factory, along the old Hardy Road, and under the railway where it narrows to a single track over the river. There’s a height restriction here, so HGVs and trucks delivering parts to the stores often have to unload here onto fork lifts.

The other way in is via a level crossing at the bottom of Cremorne Lane on the Line towards Yarmouth, which they don’t tend to use unless absolutely necessary.

Which can be upwards of 10 to 15 times a day (sometimes more) !

 

[LAX54]

Why has there no such agreement, seems a little odd if the tracks have been laid already?

Still ongoing works everyday with an isolation, so not ready to be handed over just yet New Trains, New Track, Guaging wil also bee checked of course

 

[delticdave]

Still ongoing works everyday with an isolation, so not ready to be handed over just yet New Trains, New Track, Guaging wil also bee checked of course

Thanks, makes sense. Surprised that gauging might be an issue, modern sleepers usually have "pre-gauged" fixings.

 

[Rick1984]

got a brief glimpse of 2of them behind Crown Point today

 

[superalbs]

A couple of Norwich in 90 runs appear to be added to the new timetable in May .

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G08265/2019/05/25/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G08263/2019/05/25/advanced

 

[grumpyoldman01]

A couple of Norwich in 90 runs appear to be added to the new timetable in May .

Shown as standard class only; is that correct?

 

[D6700]

A couple of Norwich in 90 runs appear to be added to the new timetable in May .

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G08265/2019/05/25/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G08263/2019/05/25/advanced

And another pair in the evening:
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G08269/2019/05/25/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G08267/2019/05/25/advanced

In all cases, a normal stopping pattern train is shown following headway behind.

 

[86246]

A good spot. Although the 25th is a Saturday those services are also present on weekdays.

There is also a fast 17:00 from Norwich and 19:00 from London.

A good choice as the 09:00 from Norwich and 19:00 from London are busy services.

 

[grumpyoldman01]

Using the links just posted, I clicked on Norwich, then on the 20.34 arrival from Cambridge; very surprised to see it timed for a class 317!

Anyone know if class 317 timings are being used for bi-modes?

 

[superkev]

Not seen any of the new trains but I hope they don't have intercoach jumpers like on the LNER class 800s which one of the various safety Talibans have prevented from entering service.
K

 

[D6700]

Using the links just posted, I clicked on Norwich, then on the 20.34 arrival from Cambridge; very surprised to see it timed for a class 317!

Anyone know if class 317 timings are being used for bi-modes?

In the opposite direction, they are shown as Class 158 - but will probably be using a Class 170 timing load, as they show 100mph. Both show as DMU(E) in downstream systems.

These trains will have a change en-route at Ely of the timing load - but these are never visible in Realtime Trains. It only shows the initial value, which can often be very misleading.

 

[cactustwirly]

And another pair in the evening:
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G08269/2019/05/25/advanced
http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G08267/2019/05/25/advanced

In all cases, a normal stopping pattern train is shown following headway behind.

I don't see how that is achievable, unless they get rid of all the freight services!

 

[D6700]

Not seen any of the new trains but I hope they don't have intercoach jumpers like on the LNER class 800s which one of the various safety Talibans have prevented from entering service.
K

Whilst they don't have jumper cable "ladders", as found on IEP's, they do have some heavy duty jumper cables and various other bits and pieces, giving them a high degree of climbability for anyone so inclined. Obviously, this is UK-specific problem...

971404 Velim

• D6700
• 3 Jan 2019

 

[Bletchleyite]

Shown as standard class only; is that correct?

I wonder will they be Stansted FLIRTs or Aventras? If peak perhaps Aventras so more people can be crammed in?

 

[D6700]

Perhaps, they're allowing for initially using Stansted Express Flirts on these services, which are Standard Class only?

 

[rick_suffolk]

I believe it will be 2 x 755s